Part 8 (1/2)
”I must not forget to tell you that at the farm house at 'Richmond Hill'
they have quite a fine piano; and, as my experience during the great Abolition campaign in the North made me quite an adept at speaking and singing in public, I have been able to entertain these good Gibsons and other Canadian friends with some of the music and songs I used to play and sing. Our girls also have dome very well on the piano, to be so young yet.
”We all send our warmest love to you; and if I see any good reason for writing you again before we leave Richmond Hill, will send you another Canadian letter before our return home, and I remain, my dear Tom, ever your most affectionate wife,
”BEULAH LINCOLN.”
When we had been a month at Richmond Hill, and were getting ready for our departure on the following day, the girls had a great desire to write their papa. So I furnished them with the writing materials, upon which they put their heads and thoughts together, and wrote the letter that follows:
”RICHMOND HILL, October, 1864.
”Our Dear Papa:-
”With great pleasure we send you this letter, we your daughters, who love you. We are all quite well, and hope you are well also amidst the dangers and toils of the war. All the letters and other things that you sent us to Buffalo were forwarded to us to Richmond Hill, in Canada. We have read your letters over and over again with great interest, and the friends here have read some of them that told all about the military operations in the fields, and they were very well pleased with their contents, for the Gibsons are great union people too.
”As the weather here has been most delightfully sunny, and we have been so much in the open air on these Canadian hills, both mama and our two selves have gotten quite fat, and also look as people do when they come from the bathing places on the sea sh.o.r.e. We also feel right good, all three of us, for we have had a grand time, and been so very kindly used.
Thus our hearts and minds are content, and we are going home to Buffalo to-morrow filled with pleasure, like heavily laden bees going humming to their hives with plenty of sweet honey.
”We have been to church in the town every Sunday since we came here. The Gibsons are Presbyterians, and so we went to the Presbyterian church, and indeed it is very beautiful. We stood up to pray instead of kneeling down as we do at Vine Street, in Buffalo, but Dr. Bell is a famous preacher.
”As the buggy could not hold everybody, mamma rode both ways and we walked, and we never thought of getting tired.
”The horse is an awful quiet one, something little 'Gentle Annie' of the song. We were not a bit afraid to drive on week days by our two selves, and bring the mail from the postoffice; and then we learned how to drive and manage a horse. But the Gibson horse would never make a war horse, he is not strong enough, and the cannons would frighten him too much.
”We do not go to market here for fruit and vegetables. We just open the gates to the garden and orchard, and bring in all the potatoes, cabbage, turnips, pears, peaches, apples, and whatever else we may need. We have been very busy paring apples; and besides that we have a lot of fruit in jars that we are going to take home to Buffalo. The preserves will be nice in winter.
”We met with a wonderful piece of good luck at Richmond Hill. The Gibsons have got an enormous copy of the Pilgrim's Progress,-as big as a family Bible, published in London, and all the pictures are quite different from those in our own. O, what grand times we had looking at all the pictures!
”When night came on, we girls took our turn and read 'The War in the South' in the 'Daily Toronto Globe.' How our eyes did glisten as we read many parts of the news!
”We will leave this house to-morrow after an early breakfast. One of the sons will drive us to Ingersoll railway station. We have now seen the whole family,-all the Gibsons. We never knew that there were such fine people in Canada. We are all so very glad that the Lord directed our young feet to this place.
”We must now close our letter with much love from everybody, and we are, our dear papa, your most loving daughters,
”-- and -- Lincoln.”
We got home to Buffalo once more all right, but that grand visit made a very great impression upon our hearts and minds. I have attempted to place a few sketches of it before my kind and indulgent reader, but Oh, dear me! if I were to write down all that I could write about that famous visit it would fill up a whole book. Perhaps I may return to the subject again.
Soon after our return to our happy and pleasant home in Buffalo, I received the following letter from Tom:
”NEW ORLEANS, La., October, 1864.
”Mrs. Beulah Lincoln,
”My Dear Beulah:-Since I was promoted to the rank of captain, my duties have varied a good deal more at different times than they did when I was a private in the ranks. I have lately been away in the interior of this State, but here I am back to the Crescent City once more, and ever trying to attend most faithfully to my duties. I tell you, my dear Beulah, it takes every one of us to do our very best,-with a long pull, and a strong pull, and a pull altogether,-to pull down this terrible and powerful rebellion. People can think, and talk, and even write all they please; but I am firmly convinced that had Abraham Lincoln not issued his famous emanc.i.p.ation proclamation on the 1st of January, 1863, the war would go on for twenty years, and perhaps we would have to compromise with the rebels even then. And then they are such fighters!
Why, they are worse than tigers! However that may be, I know one thing,-since the issuing of that proclamation the rebellion has been cut down in territory on all sides; and, as we have got hold of the rebel ports, one by one, the blockade runners have been cut off by sea to that extent. Thus we have cut off their supplies from foreign nations; and right here I may notice that, as to the millions of silver and gold that the South has piled and heaped from the toils and labors of the oppressed slaves,-of all that ill-gotten coin, there is perhaps not one dollar of it left now in the entire South. It has all gone to buy the munition of war in Europe; and yet the cause for which the South has expended it will all be lost!
”The rebellion is going down, and will come to an end by and by. I suppose there are now about 200,000 colored troops in the field, many of whom used to raise the crops for 'old Ma.s.sa.' Now white men must stay at home and raise the crops, and look after their own families into the bargain, and all that is so much more cut off from their resources.
”I used to be of the opinion that after all the lickings we have given them, and seeing that they had no prospect but ultimate defeat before their eyes, they would come to terms and lay down their arms. But no!-nothing of the sort indeed! They have still their pride left, and that is something!-I don't think we will ever conquer them; but we will just wear them away, one by one, till there is not another rebel left.